Obedin



Jan. 24, 1956 N. 'OBEDIN 2,732,202

AUTOMATIC CLOTH LAYING-UP MACHINE Filed Jan. 24, 1951 7 Sheets-Sheet l NNATHAN OBEDIN INVENTOR.

f 31 W M ATTORNEY Jan. 24, 1956 N. OBEDIN 2,732,202

AUTOMATIC CLOTH LAYING-UP MACHINE Filed Jan. 24, 1951 7 Sheets-Sheet 2FIG.2

NATHAN OBEDIN INVENTOR.

BMW

ATTORNEY Jan. 24, 1956 N. OBEDIN 2,732,202

AUTOMATIC CLOTH LAYING-UP MACHINE Filed Jan. 24, 1951 v Sheets-Sheet 5NATHAN OBEDIN Jan. 24, 1956 N. OBEDIN 2,732,202

AUTOMATIC CLOTH LAYING-UP MACHINE Filed Jan. 24, 1951 7 Sheets-Sheet 4NATHAN OBEDIN I. 91 F] 5 INVENTOR. fl BYW W ATTORNEY Jan. 24, 1956 N.OBEDIN AUTOMATIC CLOTH LAYING-UP MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 24,1951 FIG.6

NATHAN OBEDIN INVENTOR. BYWM ATTORNEY Jan. 24, 1956 N. OBEDIN AUTOMATICCLOTH LAYING-UP MACHINE 7 SheetsSheet 6 Filed Jan. 24, 1951 NATHANOBEDIN INVENTOR- BYW flzbm/ ATTORNEY Jan. 24, 1956 Filed Jan. 24, 1851N. OBEDIN 2,732,202

AUTOMATIC CLOTH LAYING-UP MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet '7 NATHAN oazomINVENTOR.

BYWMM/ ATTORNEY United States Patent This invention. relates to a. clothlaying and folding machinewhich is automatic in its action so as torequire the services of only a single operator for its operation.

Previous designs of cloth laying andv folding machines mounted the clothfolding member to be rotative on its lengthwise center line of gravityand this made it impossible to bring the two faces of the folding membersuccessively in substantial contact with the cutting table at thebeginning of operations.

This inability to swing the cloth folding member substantially intocontact with the cutting table at the beginning of operations preventedthe cloth from being laid smooth and the cloth was laid up unevenly andbulges appeared along the length of the laid up cloth. This bulging is adetriment to eflicient workmanship.

An object of this invention is to mount. the folding membereccentrically of its lengthwise center line of gravity to. cause thegoods to lie flat against the cutting table at the beginning, ofoperations and prevent the formation of bulges in the laid-up material.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simplified mechanismhaving a considerably reduced number of operating parts.

This application is a continuation in part of my application Serial No.775,272, filed September 20, 1947, now abandoned.

With the above and other objects. in view, the invention will behereinafter more particularly described, and the combination andarrangement of parts will be. shown in the accompanying drawings andpointedv out in the claims which form part of this specification.

Reference will now be had to the drawings, wherein like numerals ofreference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a top plan. view of a fragmentary portion of a cuttingtable, carriage, cloth folding member, and an end gripper embodying theinvention, the cloth folding member being in cross-section through thecentral portion thereof.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevation. of. a, cam hanger shown resting on, afragmentary bottom portion of thecarriage, and showing a verticallymovable bearing plateand acam in lowermost position and resting on thehanger.

Figure 4 is a front view of' a fragmentary portion of raising mechanism.for the folding member.

Figure 5' is a front view, partly in cross section, of the bearings forthe cloth folding member and mechanism for oscillating the foldingmember.

Figure 6 is a top plan View offclutchand brake mechanism used forraising the folding member.

Figure 7 is a front elevation of the mechanism shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is an enlarged view of aportion of the mechanism shown inFigure 2- together with an end gripper mechanism, the parts beinginthtaPGSifiBIIS-"SHOWII in Figure 3'.

lengthwise dimensions.

2,732,202 Patented Jan. 24, 1956 ice Figure 9 is a view of the lostmotion device, similar to that shown in Figures 2 and 5.

Figure 10 is an end view of the device shown in Figure 8, in theright-hand position, and in the opposite direction to that shown inFigure 2.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the niuneral 10indicates an automatic cloth laying-up machine comprising areciprocating cloth laying carriage or frame 11 and a cutting table 12.The frame 11 has end walls 13, 13.

The end walls are secured by tubes 14 having their ends fixed inbrackets 14'. Bolts 15 secure the brackets 14' on opposite end walls.The tubes 14 maintain the end walls in spaced-apart relation.

Grooved wheels 17 are mounted on studs 18 in legs 19 at the lowerportion of the end wall 13 and are rollable upon a track 20 mounted onone side of the cutting table 12. The end Wall 13' is supported bynon-grooved or plain rubber wheels 21 rotatably mounted similar to themounting of the groove wheels 17 and which are rollable on the cuttingtable 12. The end walls extend upwardly and terminate in bifurcatedupper ends 25 adapted to receive a shaft 26 for supporting a roll ofcloth indicated by dot-and-dash lines 27.

The end walls 13, 13 have horizontal extensions (not shown) formingcontinuations of brackets 28. The bracket extensions support horizontalrotatable tension bars over which the fabric is passed. The horizontalsurfaces 29 in the end frames 13, 13' have a flat plate thereon forminga table upon which a bolt of cloth may be supported in the form of flatsuperposed layers.

The carriage 11 comprises means for automatically raising andoscillating a clothfolding mechanism and for automatically manipulatingtwo cloth engaging end grippers. The end grippers form the subjectmatter of a separate patent application, Serial No. 716,453, filedDecember 16, 1946,, PatnNo. 2,539,722.

The cloth folding mechanism comprises a cloth folding member 30, havingend members in the form of cranks 31 which are secured to rock-shafts 32mounted in bearings 33.

The folding member 30 also comprises spaced-apart top and bottom platemembers 35 which are angular in cross-section and which are secured tothe cranks 31 by screws (not shown). The plate members 35 define thelength. of the folding member 30 and. when rotated on the rock-shafts 32permit the cloth to freely pass thereover during the laying up of. thecloth.

As shown in Figure 3, the end members or cranks 31 are rotatably mountedon the shaft 32 with the shaft very close to one edge of the saidmembers. This causes the weight of the end members to produce a momentabout the. shaft 32' since the lengthwise center of gravity of. endmembers and the center of shaft 32 are not in alinement.

In other words, this causes an eccentric mounting of said members. Thiscauses the cloth to lie close to the cutting table at the beginning ofoperations to prevent the formation of bulges in the laid-up material.The eccentric mounting, of the plate members 35 and of the folding,edges 36, in relation to the shaft 32, causes the folding edges 36 torise from the table immediately the folding member is turned.

The bearings 33, 33" are slidably mounted vertically on. guide rods 41and when the bearings are raised above the table 10, the folding member30 is also raised vertically.

The top and bottom members 35 of the folding member'30 are positioned inparallel planes and have elongated superposed openings '43 spaced apartequally along their Each opening extends through a side edge of a platemember;

The cloth folding member comprises two elongated guide rollers 44. Therollers 44 are rotatably mounted on reduced end portions 45 in aperturesin the cranks 31.

Automatic means is provided for raising the folding member 30 apredetermined distance each time the carriage reaches an end of thetable. The folding member is raised sufficiently to accommodate theincreasing thickness of the pile of cloth being laid and folded upon thetable.

When the operator moves the carriage 11 to either end of the table 12,the position of the upper and lower cloth laying plates 35 isautomatically reversed by a pinion gear and a rack gear, to bedescribed, thereby causing a fold to be formed in the cloth.

The mechanism comprises an angularly-shaped frame having a rack gear 51which is mounted for horizontal slidable motion relative to the wall 13jointly with a shaft 42 to which the rack 51 is fixed. The shaft 42 isslidable in bearings 52 and 53 in the end wall 13.

The teeth of the rack gear 51 are in meshed engagement with a piniongear 54 secured to a shaft 13 which forms the axle in the forwardgrooved wheel 17. It is to be noted that the wheel 17 and gear 54 aredrivingly connected by the shaft 18.

When the carriage 11 is moved on the table 12, the wheel 17 and thepinion gear 54 are caused to rotate and this causes the rack gear 51 andthe frame 50 to slide horizontally relative to the wall 13 of thecarriage 11. It is to be noted that the pinion gear 54 is integral withthe shaft 18 and that the wheel 17 is forced on the shaft 18.

The frame 50 comprises an upright rod 55 on which is a slidable member56. A lever 57 is rotatably mounted on the rock-shaft 32 and has itsfree end rotatably connected to the slidable member 56 by means of a pin66.

When the frame 50 is moved horizontally, this motion causes the slidablemember 56 to move up and down on the rod 55 and this causes the lever 57to swing through an angle substantially greater than ninety degrees.lever 57 swings a dog 58 which is fixed to the shaft 32. The dog 58 ispositioned rearwards of the lever 57. The dog 58 has two radiallyextending arms 59 positioned to form a substantially ninety degree arebetween them. The lever 57 has an aperture in which the shaft 32 isfreely rotatably mounted. The lever 57 has a pin 60 extending betweenthe arms 59 of the dog 58 for oscillating the dog 58 and the shaft 32 onwhich the dog is fixed.

It is to be noted that after the shaft 32 rotates through an anglesubstantially greater than 90 degrees by means of the dog 58, that themomentum caused by this motion causes the shaft 32 to move through theremainder angle up to the required 180 degrees.

Figures 9 and 10 show the lever 57 rotated to the righthand position andin the opposite direction to that shown in Figure 2. The lever 57 isrotated in an are substantially greater than ninety degrees. At thispoint, the momentum of the heavy plate members 35 is sufficient tocontinue the rotation of the folding member 30, the balance of therequired one hundred and eighty degrees. This remainder motion, I calllost motion.

Actuation of the lever 57 oscillates the dog 58 and the folding member30 whereby the opposite faces or plate members 35 of the folding member30 successively assume a lower horizontal position.

It is to be noted that the cloth folding member 30 is channel shaped.The eccentric mounting of the folding member 30 causes one of thefolding edges 36 of the folding member to rise from the table 12immediately when the folding member is turned.

The position of the bearings 33, 33 determines the lowest position ofthe folding member. This permits the folding member to be lowered so asto almost contact with the top of the table 12 and to fold the very Thet lowest layer of cloth without thereafter disturbing the laid-upmaterial.

It is to be noted that upon completion of a reciprocation of the frame50, there is a tendency for the rack actuating wheel 17 to be lockedagainst further rotation. This would cause excessive friction due to thewheel 17 sliding along the track 20 instead of rolling on the track.

To avoid this excessive friction, I provide an adjustable disk-typefriction clutch 40 functioning between the rack actuating wheel 17 andthe rack actuating pinion gear 54 on the axle 18 of the front wheel 17.

The friction clutch 40 comprises a fiber washer 47 held by a steel disk48. The inner end of the axle 18 is threaded. An adjusting collar 49 isthreadably mounted on the threaded axle 18. An open coil spring 46 ismounted between the collar 49 and the disk 48 and serves for maintainingthe fiber washer 47 in pressure contacting relation with the wheel 17.

The end gripper mechanism is partly shown in Figures 1 and 8 andcomprises a base member 61 from which extend vertically two pedestals62, one at each end of the base 61. Each pedestal 62 has three apertures63 63 and 63 in vertically alined and uniformly spaced-apart relation.

Three fulcrum shafts 64 64 and 64 are rotatably mounted in therespective apertures in the pedestals. Fixed to the upper fulcrum shaft64 is a lever 65, which is suitably connected to the free end of a lever67 fixed to the bottom fulcrum shaft 64 A slotted and slidable link bar68 has a pivot 69. The slot (not shown) constrains the link bar 68 nearthe pedestal 62 to sliding motion while the pivot 69 moves upwardly in acurved path.

Thebearing blocks 33, 33' are raised and lowered while guided verticallyby the guide rods 41. The raising means for the folding member comprisessteel cables 70. One end of each cable is respectively secured to anupright extension 71 or 71' on the bearing blocks 33, 33'. The otherends of the cables 70 are fixed to drums 75 on a horizontal shaft 72rotatably mounted in brackets 73 at an upper elevation of the end walls13, 13'.

An actuating lever 76 is pivotally mounted on a stud 77 which is securedin an anchor arm 78. The anchor arm is pivotally mounted to freelyrotate on the shaft 72. The actuating lever 76 carries a pin 79 whichengages one end of a circularly formed friction band 80. The other endof the friction band is secured to the stud 77. The friction band 80extends around a drum 81 fixed to the shaft 72 to frictionally grip androtate the drum 81 and the shaft 72 in one direction during onehalf ofeach cycle of operation of the lever 76. During the opposite half ofoscillation of the lever 76 it releases the friction band 80. The drum81 is frictionally held against rotation in the opposite direction by asecond friction band to be described. The shaft 72 actuates the cables70 that lift the bearing blocks 33 and the folding member 30 rotatablymounted thereon. This raising mechanism is positioned solely at the side13 of the carriage 11. At the opposite side 13', a cable 70 is securedto a drum 75 fixed on the opposite end of the shaft 72 and has its outerend secured to a bearing block 33'. It is to be noted that the automaticmeans for raising the folding member 30 acts only during the leftwarddirectional travel of the carriage. This rising of the folding member atone end is sufficient because there is no necessity for raising thefolding member at both ends because of the very minute thickness of thefabric.

Assuming the folder 36 to face in the direction in which the carriagehappens to be moving at a particular time, then at the end of travel ofthe carriage, the folder must be raised from the position on the tableshown in Figures 2 and 8. This is done by the cables 70.

I also provide a friction brake band which extends around the drum 81.One end of the band 110 is secured to a stud 111 fixed in the frame 13.The other end of 5 the band 110 is secured to spin 112 which is'fiiredin an oscillatable weight 113 pivoted on the stud 111. j

The weight '113 urges the band 110 to wrap itself around the drum in adirection opposite to the direc'tion of the actuation of the frictionclutch band 80. This tensions the band 80 against slipping. I

It is to be understood that when the friction clutch band releasesitsgrip on the drum 81, thatthe friction brake band 110 immediatelygr'ipsthe drum 81 and prevents reverse motion of the drum and also preventsunwinding of the cables 70 from the Winding drums 75 due to thesuspended weight of the folding member 30.

A handle 115 is fixed to the anchor lever 78. The operator may grip thehandle 115 and rai e the anchor lever 78 and thereby raise "the stud 77into lifting engagement with the pin 112 which in turn oscillates theweight 113 in a direction tending to release the brake. The foldingmember 30 is then allowed to descend by its own weight to any desiredheight above the cutting table 12. This release mechanism serves forquickly lowering the folding member when it has reached its highestpoint of upward travel, to permit laying of another series of plies offabric.

As shown in Figure 2, a threaded 'nutmember 138 is suitably secured tothe bracket 73 at the upper elevation of the end wall 13.

A bolt member 139 having a knob140 at its upper end, is threaded intothe nut member 138. At the lower end of the bolt member 139 is anintegral disk-shaped head 141 upon which a right-angular extension 142of the free outer end of the anchor arm 78 rests.

By adjusting the bolt member 139, the distance between the top of thedisk-shaped head 1'41 and the lower face of the threaded nut member 1-38is varied to control the swing of the anchor arm 78 and the distance theclutch is actuated for each reciprocation of the carriage. Adjustment isvaried in accordance with the thickness of the fabric laid up.

A straight line cam 88 having an inclined upper surface 89 is pivotallymounted on a pivot pin 90. The pin 90 is secured in a hanger 91 havingintegral guide bushings 92. The hanger is mounted for upright motion onthe guide rods 41 carried by the carriage 11. The hanger 91 is supportedupon a cable 123, to be described later.

As shown in Figure 4, I have provided a roller 120 mounted on ballbearings 121 on the shaft 72. The ball bearings supported roller 120serves as a freely rolling cloth guide.

Mounted on the shaft 72 is a winding drum 122 of smaller diameter thanthe drums 75. A cable 123 has one of its ends secured to the drum 122and extends downwardly. The cable 123 passes through an aperture 124 inthe bearing block 33. The lower end of the cable 123 is secured to andsupports the hanger 91, best shown in Figure 3, by means of a screw 125.

It is to be noted that when the shaft 72 rotates, the drum 122 actuatesthe cable 123 and lifts the hanger 91 at a lower rate than the liftingspeed of the folding member 30.

The reduced diameter of the drum 122 compensates for the slower rate ofmotion of the pivot 69 on the arm 68 as compared with the rate of motionof the pin bar 131, shown in Figure 1. This compensation is necessarybecause the pin bar 131 is positioned at a greater radius than theradius of the ball bearing 96. The unequal diameters of the drums 75 and122 allows the cam 89 and the hanger 91 to rise at a slower rate thanthe folding member 35.

The cam 88 has a transversely projecting stop pin 93 which is positionedto engage the bottom surface of a slot 94 in the hanger 91 when in itslowest angular position. 7

When the carriage 11 approaches the end gripper, the toe 95 of the cam88 passes below the lower periphery of a ball bearing 96 rotatablymounted on the link bar 68. The continued motion of the cam 88 causesthe cam to raise the ball bearing 96 and the link bars 68. This causesthe gripper element 131 to be raised to permit 'the folding member 30"to come under the gripper element and lay'a fold of cloth on the table12.

Further continued motion of the carriage 11 and the cam 88 causes theball bearing 96 to drop 01f the heel portion 97 of the cam 88 permittingthe gripper element 131 to resume its normally engaged relationship withthe end of the laid up pile of cloth. When the motion of the carriage isreversed the ball bearing engages the lower surface 101 of the cam 88.The cam is thereby caused to oscillate about the pivot pin to avoidobstruction of'the ball bearing by the cam and'to permit free reversemotion of the carriage.

It is to be noted that the cam 88 is positioned on the carriage 11 tocoact with a slidable end gripper and that another cam 88' on thecarriage 11 faces in the opposite direction and coacts with a fixed endgripper at the opposite end of the table.

It is to be noted that the upright rod 55 passes through 'a guide block132 which is slidably mounted on a horizontal rod 133 fixed to the-endwall 13 by a bolt 134.

Secured to the block 132 is an arm 135 having at its lower end atransverse extension 136 which contacts a ball bearing 137 at the lowerend of the lever 76.

Movement of the frame 50 to the right, causes movement of the arm 135,the lower end of which causes oscillation of the lever 76 in acounterclockwise direction around the pivot 77 and actuation in acounterclockwise direction of the drum 81 and the shaft 72 and thusraising the clothfolding member 30.

As shown in Figure 8, thereis provided a rubber block 98 carried by abraeket99 which is suitably secured to the base member 61.

The rubber block 98 is positioned to face the front end surface of thecarriage 11 so as to engage the carriage just prior to completion of itstravel. The rubber block 98 is deformed and functions as a cushionbumper to absorb the inertia of the carriage and bring it to a gradualstop. 1

It is to be noted that while I have shown means for causingreciprocating motion of the frame 50 as centered in a clutch controlledpinion gear in coacting relation with a rack gear and the pinion gearmounted on one of the carriage wheels, that I may provide otheractuating means for the frame.

It is also to be noted that when movement of the frame 50 takes place,there are simultaneous movements of raising and reversing of the clothfolding member 30.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described and illustratedthe preferred embodiment of my invention, but it will be understood thatvarious changes and modifications can be made therein without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a fabric laying-up machine having a carriagecomprising two wheel supported end walls movable on a table, said tablehaving a track at one side thereof and on which said wheels arerollable, and a fabric folding member supported by rock-shafts in saidcarriage and rotatable on said rock-shafts, bearings and saidrock-shafts for said folding member vertically movably mounted on guiderods in said carriage to and from said table, said rock-shafts beingmounted in said bearings, said folding member being channel-shaped andhaving upper and lower parallel faces, said folding member being mountedon said rock-shafts eccentrically of its lengthwise center line ofgravity to permit either of said faces to be swung substantially intocontact with said table when said folding member is in lowermostposition on said carriage, a frame reciprocably mounted in bearings onsaid carriage adjacent an outer face thereof, said frame comprising arack-gear and a vertical rod, one of said rock-shafts having anextension facing said frame, a dog fixed to said extension and havingtwo radially extending arms positioned to form a substantially ninetydegree angle between them, a lever having one end rotatably mounted onsaid extension, said lever having a pin extending between said arms foroscillating said dog and said rock-shaft, said lever having its oppositeend in slidable engagement with said rod, a pinion gear carried by oneof said wheels and in meshed relation with said rack gear, reciprocatingmotion of said frame by said pinion gear causing partial rotation ofsaid lever which carries said folding member upwardly through an anglesubstantially greater than ninety degrees to bring its lengthwise centerline of gravity beyond the vertical plane through the center line ofsaid rock-shafts, whereby the momentum of said folding member in motionwill cause said folding member to rotate through a further angle tocomplete a partial rotation of one hundred and eighty degrees andreverse the position of said parallel faces.

2. In combination with a fabric laying-up machine having a carriagecomprising two wheel supported end walls movable on a table, said tablehaving a track at one side thereof and on which said wheels arerollable, and a fabric folding member supported by rock-shafts in saidcarriage and rotatable on said rock-shafts, bearings and saidrock-shafts for said folding member vertically movably mounted on guiderods in the end walls of said carriage to and from said table, saidrock-shafts being mounted in said bearings, said folding member beingchannel-shaped and having upper and lower parallel faces, said foldingmember being mounted on said rck-shafts eccentrically of its lengthwisecenter line of gravity to permit either of said faces to be swungsubstantially into contact with said table when said folding member isin lowermost position on said carriage, a frame reciprocably mounted inbearings on one of the end walls of said carriage adjacent an outer facethereof, said frame comprising a rack-gear and a vertical rod, one ofsaid rock-shafts having an extension facing said frame, a dog fixed tosaid extension and having two radially extending arms positioned to forma substantially ninety degree angle between them, a lever having one endrotatably mounted on said extension, said lever having a pin extendingbetween said arms for oscillating said dog and said rock-shaft, saidlever having its opposite end in slidable engagement with said rod, apinion gear carried by one of said wheels and in meshed relation withsaid rack gear, reciprocating motion of said frame by said pinion gearcausing partial rotation of said lever which carries said folding memberupwardly through an angle substantially greater than ninety degrees tobring its lengthwise centerline of gravity beyond the vertical planethrough the center line of said rock-shafts, whereby the momentum ofsaid folding member in motion will cause said folding member to rotatethrough a further angle to complete a rotation of one hundred and eightydegrees and reverse the position of said parallel faces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS843,451 Grove Feb. 5, 1907 877,090 Koch Jan. 21, 1908 1,257,421 SussmanFeb. 26, 1918 1,338,570 Isaacs Apr. 27, 1920 2,272,049 Hagenbrook Feb.3, 1942 2,442,352 Gilbert June 1, 1948 2,464,245 Lonngren Mar. 15, 1949

